Steering-wheel brake



E. G. HEINZELMAN I STEERING WHEEL'BRAKE April 12 1927.

Filed Aug. 27, 192:5

Mrnior W v wherever- -theyloeciu",

v Patented Apr. 12, 1927.

stmhtioni of. automobiles the spindles of the fitimtwheels areintegralwith knuckles that areupiwotally mountedfinwtheuforked ends ofthe 'axle bridgle so as tosp'ermit'the 'wheelsc:

" to be-turned atia'n angle to the longitudinal axislef the automobile{for l-thesa-ke of: ehang s ing'theacourse thereoii. For varlousreasons,

it is Idesi-nable tofinouiit brakes on thefront' wheels; but; while ithevehiele is turning, there is objection to braking theuonter Wheel. Thepurpose of the present-invennnd which will permit tlielhialze oftheinnei heel ioaheasetrand .at the same time 7 .rendei the intakeof-theouter wheel inoperatiyeavhen'i'oundzingla turn. The inventiononsistsuprincipallyV;in :a brake that is mounted to swing withthe'steering'knuekle.

Itfialso consists "in means for perating-the brakes said means 7.oomprising counterpart eamuiiiembers. both Iotatably mounted to -"turnwith the steering knuckle and one, of

them having: an. arm that is conneotedby a link iyithlthe cross ivod ofthesteering geawwhereby said lcamfniem'ber shifts its position With-Tthe shifting'ofsaid cross rod fividchoht affecting the operatiwe relation foftheea-ln members to each. other. It also consistsgin equippingthebizake actuating arm with :aeahle 'or other fiexlble or lost-motionconmieotimgmemben for eonnecti'ng it to the loot lever, on other l=cont-nolling device. so tll at:.-saidleablewill nemaintaut "and 111010-' erative conditionqto respond. to, said foot described and:olaimed. i V, {the accompanying drawing; wherein-like;inefeveneeenumerals reier'to like parts :1 's a 1313511 Qvi i{UNITED s AT -12;s if;

ioF imtflfitiiijitnfhoh. r i

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letter when the heel is Kcufning' outwardly andvmill aslaekenz' and.become inopenatiye: Y e ibrake {when thewvheel isturning 'inwaa'd-ly Itlalso' consists in the. construe-u tion's andp-anangements of ipantsliereinafter w of iheifmnt axle of mygmtomobilefl"with the :roadwheelsand n fdifiei ent. :POSHZIQIISI ZFig. is a .welrtieal secition'thifoiigh sueh -'#brakem allelwithfthe cxvheel. a

Applieation' filed August 27; 1922. seii arie ieseszoj fl I'.eprese-1its.tl1e bOCly of-a front axle of or dinai'y type Qwepitesehtsthe "liorked end theiieof; 3" i'epi-esents' a. eommonstype of steering'lnmelile' pivotally mounted :in said florkion a substantially verticalaxis and haying"; la substantially horizontal spindleo portion having .aseireum fierential flan relancl A rand; an annular clamping yplateprovided" tion ;is' to de ise' front vWheel brakes and, i means foroperating :the same whieh Will .1 15 peiuaait. both bi'iakes to beoperated simulta iieoiisly iwlieii the vehicle is m vingstnaight--.

steefing wheel is p rot id ecl with a .bi ahe 1 ie jp aiit castingsreachef l1iel1- has,anf .ai'en ate' portion constituting brake shoesiO-f a length oftlahout l209fethepadjaeemt ends the lgn'uelqle' pi'nvand having [bearing surffsees' i 01; cooperating with the memberheifei'na itei mentioned. The bottom portions forl ned, theieiuelongated slots (indicated I I I by .dottec l lines at 31in Fig, 3.) forloolts JSQ-that'laass throughsand suppozrt ip laites 38. whose inner:ends extend flush .Withior be ofzthe eastings are substantiallyhorizontal the sleeve LOof the steering I e of making said shoesadjust-l yon'dltheliniier aCOlll'lGISiOf saidibrake shoe castings vandconstitute v the pixzotwl' hen-cers "itllefeOfl; A thnd brake shoevl'l'is mounted on Y thefisbiake' shoes above described. For

fii'stwmentioned brake shoes ha-s itslower- ,or hearing; and ovei'itfits'a' I'TBOBSS r13 i one end of the thirdvbrakei shoe. The other endof said third brake shoe'is provided this purpose, thelO'WGlTBIICl'QjfuOllB-Of saidmost end '12 rounded :oif to form aliuleruni vwith an inwardly extendinglug-or 'ear 14' which. has 1 athreaded hole .15 therein;- sub istantfially' perpendicular to. the ra,the shizazke clrumfi tliisfthreaded hole isof the first mentioned we ofbrake shoes" oi'us' of c .a'set senewuGrQahMnient"sonewilfi Whosepro+form abutments for the third or intermediate shoe; and when said upperbrake shoes are moved against the end of said third or intermediatebrake shoe, they force it against the brake drum. v

The brake shoes are provided with suit-v able tension springs 18, 19 forpulling them from the brake drum and holding them in shoe to thehorizontal mounting member..

By this arrangement, pressure endwise against the ends of the firstmentioned pair of brake shoes'tends to separate such ends and force thesaid shoes against the brake drum. The movement of the brake shoes is ofa pivotal. character, with the axis of rotation of each shoe near itslower inner corner; that is, while the adjacent ends of said shoesspread apart horizontally, the lower'outer ends of said shoes are moveddownwardly, thus not. only causing the upper shoes to' engage the brakedrum but also transmittingpressure against the ends of the third orintermediate brake shoe and causing it also to engage said brake drum.

Themeans for applying pressure tothe ends of the brake shoes comprise anannular cam 20 that is mounted on the top fork of the yoke of the axleconcentric with the knuckle pin and having its upper surface formed intoone or more cam teeth. The counterpart cam member 21 is also of annularshape and is mounted above and concentric with said first mentioned cammember. 7

This upper or second cam member is in the form of a hollow cylinder witha radially disposed brake actuating arm 36. This upper cam member iscentered by means of an annular sleeve 22 with an inwardly projectingannular flange against which the head of the. knuckle pin is firmlyclamped. The outer upper edge 23 of the secondcam member is rounded offand constitutes a bearing for cooperation with the sloping or inclinedends 24 of the brake shoes so as to cause spreading movement thereofwhen forced upwardly.

The lower cam member 20 has a radial horizontalarm25 that is fixedthereto or integral therewith and extends inwardly with respect to thevehicle.v Pivotally connected to the inner end of this arm is a link 26whose other end is pivotally connected 'to a. bracket 27 providedtherefor on the cross rod 28 of the usual steering gear construction,the distance of its point of con- 1 nection being less than the lengthof the arm 29-01 the steering knuckle 3so that although the cam member20 will turn' with the knuckle 3 itwill not turn to the same exher, thatis, radially with respect to the spindle, and thereby bear against andspread apart the ends of the brake shoes, as hereinbefore described. Asit is desirable, in making a turn, to have theouter wheel free, whilethe inner wheel remains responsive to the brake actuating mechanism, the

connection between the pedal or foot lever 30 and the brake actuatingarm 36 is made by means of acable 8st or other suitable flexible memberor lost motion device. VVh-en the wheel is turningoutwardly (by which ismeant the turning of the right hand wheel to the right or the left handwheel to the left) the link attached to the cross rod of the steeringmechanism causes the arm of the lower cam to swing and thereby turn thelower .cam in the same direction and nearly to the same amount asthesle-ev-e of the steering knuckle when the wheel is turning eitheroutwardly or inwardly; and as the upper cam member turns with saidknuckle, there is little or no relative movement of the two cam-members,. at least not sutficient movement to operate.

the brakes. In the case of the wheel turning outwardly, the cross rod ofthe steering On the other hand, when the wheel is a turning inwardly,the cross rod of the steering gear movesbackwardly swinging the brakeactuating armbackwardly with it and thereby shortens the distancebetween said arm and the operating pedal and thus, as indicateddiagrammatically by the curved dotted lines, slackens the cable thattransmits the power of the pedal to said cross rod. In other words, onaccount of the slackness of such cable, the brake becomes irresponsiveto the pedal or actuating lever while the wheel is turning inwardly.

What I claim is: I

1. The combination, with anautomobile having steering wheels mounted onswinging spindles and steeringmechanism therefor, of brakes movable withsaidspindles and means for operating"said-brakes, said means comprisingarms extending inwardly from the spindles and movable therewith andflexible members connecting said arms to an actuatmg. a p v 2. Thecombination, with an automobile having steerin'g'wheels mounted'onswinging spindles and steering mechanisn'i therefor, of

brakes movable with said spindles and means for ieratm sald'brakes "saidmeans comb 7 r prising arms extending inwardly irom the spindles andmovable therewith andlost mo- I v V pivotally mounted thereon knucklesthat are tion devices "connecting said arms to an actuating lever, saidarms being movableiir, dependently of their spindles respectively andmeans operatively connected to "the steering mechanism to be controlledthereby for rendering the brake'of theouter wheel "ii-responsive to saidactuating lever' when 7 turning.

f The combination with an axle having steering knuckles p'ivotallymounted thereon;

a-ndwheels journaled on the spindles of said knuckles 0t brakes for saidwheels respectively, each mounted on the wheel and brake shoes mountedto turn with the steering knuckle in operative relation to said brakedrum, and

means for actuating said brake shoes, said means comprisingcounterpartcam members mounted concentric with the axis of said 7knuckle opposite the gap between the brake shoes, said cam membersbeing; mounted to turn with the knuckle and-also. being rotatableindependently of the knuckle.

brake comprising a drum;

of the cam arm;

4. Thecombination with anaxle having steer ng knuckles pivotally mountedthereon and wheels journaledon the spindles of said knuckles or brakesfor said wheels respectively, each brake ycomprisingtoa drum 7 mountedon the wheel and brake shoes mountedto turn with the steering knuckle inoperative relation to said brake drum, and means for actuating-sa dbrake shoes,vsa- 1d means comprising counterpart cam members wmountedconcentric with the axes of the knuckles respectively opposite the gapbe- 1 tween the brake shoes, said cam 'n'iembers being: mounted to turnwith the knuckles but to a less extent and also being rotatablerelatively to eachother independently of the knuckles;

5. The combination with anlaxle having v i mounted to turn with" saidknuckles in'oper- 'at-ive relation to said drums, and means foractuating said brake shoes, said means 'com-' prising counterpart cammember s" mounted concentric with the axes of the respective knucklesopposite the gapsbetween the brake" shoes, the cam members of each brakebeing 7 pendently of the knuckle, one cam member of each bra-keha-vingran inwardly extending arm and a link connectingsaid arm to saidcross-rod at a dIStflHCQ'fIOHI ts connect on with the knuckle arm Signedat St. 7 Louis, Missouri, this {25 7 day of August, 1923. I

EDMUND e; HEINZELMAN.

rotatable relative to each 'other and indeshorter than the length i

